It said the club would not allow jeans, T-shirts, tracksuits, shorts, trainers, flip-flops and, particularly, no denim was to be worn in the premises at any time.

This could present a few challenges, as Hong Kong's shareholders are not known for their sartorial elegance.

As corporate governance activist David Webb puts it: 'They are there to vote and ask questions or [in many cases] just to enjoy the food, not to look good. T-shirts, jeans, sneakers/trainers and even pyjamas [for elderly ladies] are frequently worn.'

Mr Webb is concerned that if the dress code is strictly applied, it could invalidate the proceedings.

'As a matter of company law, we think Johnson Electric is on shaky ground if its choice of location results in shareholders being turned away at the door for being scruffy,' he said on his Webb-site.com.

'If a shareholder's attire and behaviour does not break any laws, then his right to attend and vote at a general meeting should not be artificially impeded.'

We called Hong Kong Club yesterday for a comment. The receptionist said: 'Our club serves members, not reporters' and promptly hung up.

Things were better at Johnson Electric, where the receptionist put us through to the strategic marketing unit, who passed us on to the company secretary, whose secretary gave us a contact at the company's public relations agency. All very amicable, but none of them actually gave us any answers.

So we were unable to find out why Johnson Electric, which reported a 98 per cent drop in profit to US$2.6 million last year, had chosen the Hong Kong Club as its venue for the AGM on its 50th anniversary.

We can only speculate that, as Johnson Electric's controlling Wang family are members of the club, they perhaps were given a discount for booking a room there.

Different target

Moving across the harbour to Kowloon Club, whose landlord, New World Development, petitioned for a winding-up order at the weekend over HK$4 million in unpaid rent.

We called the club to discover that it had moved to new premises in Hunghom Bay earlier this year and that neither it nor its holding company was involved in the legal case.

New World's problem is with a management company called September Phoenix, which took over the operation of the 25-year-old club at the New World Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui a year ago.

Pay cuts for bosses

We cannot recall if Dickson Concept chairman Dickson Poon ever had a pay cut before, but last year he took home HK$8.2 million, down 20 per cent from the previous year, as his high-end retailer suffered a 75 per cent drop in profit to HK$51.81 million.

His deputy, Raymond Lee, took a 12 per cent pay cut to HK$9.04 million, while director Nelson Chan Tsang-wing suffered an 11 per cent reduction to HK$8.39 million.

Only the three independent non-executive directors - Bhanusak Asvaintra, Nicholas Etches and Christopher Langley - received more money last year, with their remuneration jumping 8 or 9 per cent to HK$227,000.

Going sandwich class

You can always tell how well a business is doing from the food it serves at lunches for investors.

The topic came up at a lunch yesterday with some executives who recalled being offered a Pret A Manger boxed sandwich at Goldman Sachs a few months ago. By contrast, Bank of China International organised a lunch with lobster and shark's fin.

We heard that Goldmans' wallet had been opened a bit wider these days, with executives who have had to endure extremely tight travelling budgets now flying business class again.

But our Goldman contact reckoned the bank was still serving Pret sandwiches to its clients.